


Testing the Waters

by reginahalliwell



Series: Stuck on Your Heart [2]
Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: s03e09 The Affair, M/M, POV Alternating, verbatim dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23792578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reginahalliwell/pseuds/reginahalliwell
Summary: David and Patrick try to figure each other out, and Alexis doesn't help.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Series: Stuck on Your Heart [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1712074
Comments: 6
Kudos: 75





	Testing the Waters

**Author's Note:**

> Another one-shot writing exercise for 3.09 The Affair, exploring the early business and personal relationship of David and Patrick.
> 
> Verbatim language used where appropriate, no infringement intended.

Patrick walked in, eyes wide open as he took in all the hard work that had already gone into bringing Rose Apothecary to life. He was the first person who wasn’t a family member to walk through that door, which still had the General Store’s tacky business hours sign on it. David was going to have to change that up. If it was the first thing the customer saw, it had to reflect the aesthetic of the business.

“Wow, things are really coming together in here,” Patrick announced as he continued to examine the open space, bright with the light coming in through the tall front windows. As he refocused, a blonde woman inside caught sight of him and was immediately taken with this stranger who just walked right into the not-yet-open store.

“I’m actually not here to shop,” Patrick corrected her after she went off on a brief tangent about how they weren’t yet open, and how cute he was. “I’m, uh, I’m Patrick,” he greeted, smiling kindly at this woman who was _clearly_ related to David Rose. “I’m just dropping off David’s business license.”

Patrick looked down at the silver frame in his hands. He had picked the frame out himself in Elmdale, making sure it looked nice enough to fit in with what was certainly an elite aesthetic if David’s voicemails were anything to go by. Looking at it now, Patrick wondered if he should have gone with a black wooden frame. David _had_ said he was going with black accents, but Patrick thought silver was expensive and timeless.

He set the framed license down on the wooden countertop next to Alexis’s purse, noting that David was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, isn’t that just the cutest thing,” the woman said in a tone that sounded somewhat condescending. When Patrick turned around, though, she was saying this to him, not to the frame, and was looking at him like a predator. A well-dressed, flouncy haired predator. “Um, David’s in the back. But I’m Alexis,” she said, pointing to her “A” necklace as she introduced herself. “And I’m currently studying business, and I’m David’s sister and life coach, so.”

“Well, it’s great to meet you, Alexis,” Patrick said. The more people Patrick met of David’s family, the more David made sense to him.

Alexis reached out her hand for a handshake, but held herself more like she was royalty and was inviting him to kiss her hand than shake it. Refusing to let his hand go, Alexis put her other hand on top of his. “Um, I’m sorry if my hands are too soft, I’ve just been sampling a lot of product.” Great, now David’s sister was flirting with him. She gestured to the tables full of glass bottles that Patrick rightly assumed were the first of David’s stock, and then she continued, “So… really soft.”

She had her hands all over him, was drawing attention to how soft they were, and had adjusted her hair at least three times since he had walked in. He knew how women flirted, and Alexis was definitely flirting. Then again, knowing David, perhaps this was just a Rose family personality quirk.

“They are,” Patrick acknowledged with a laugh as he removed his hand from hers, looking down at the residue of lotion or cream or some other skincare product that was now actively moisturizing his right hand.

He wiped the remains of the lotion on his jeans, hoping the liquid wouldn’t stand out against the dyed denim. Alexis turned around and grabbed a scarf, teasingly wrapping it around his neck. “These are soft too,” she told him, using one end of the scarf to stroke his cheek. “Isn’t it so soft?” she asked, tightening the scarf around his neck.

“It is,” Patrick agreed, his face starting to itch slightly. “Whoa, might be tying it a little too tight there,” he protested, trying to gently undo the scarf to free up his airway more.

“Uh, that is actually cat hair,” a voice behind them announced. David walked out from the stock room with a small box in hand, set it down on the counter, and came over to Patrick. “There’s a Himalayan breeder up the street that knits them for us,” he explained, then added “Hi” nonchalantly like it wasn’t a big deal that Patrick was here in his store. Which it wasn’t.

“Hi,” Patrick greeted in response, neck still choked by the cat hair scarf, which explained why his eyes were now also starting to itch. “I’m just dropping off your business license, and uh, activating my allergies.” Alexis was still giving him that look like she wanted to eat him up, but Patrick only had eyes for David. He gestured to the frame on the counter next to where David had set the box down as he sincerely tried to remove the scarf, Alexis looking at him adoringly the whole while.

“Oh, in that case you should probably take that off,” David advised, redirecting his attention from his momentary glance at the countertop to the man in his store. “Yeah, like now.”

“Oh, Oh!” Patrick said as he removed the scarf quickly, though he might have been willing to suffer even a closed-up throat if it hadn’t been Alexis doing the teasing. But that was beside the point.

Patrick moved aside to set the deadly scarf down on one of the long tables, and Alexis moved in to stage-whisper dramatically to David. “Isn’t that the sweetest thing, that he framed it?” she asked, gesturing to the business license in David’s hands.

David’s face ran the gamut of emotions, but he composed himself enough to turn to Patrick obligingly and thank him. “Um, it is very sweet. Thank you, Patrick,” he said before looking down again in disbelief that he was actually licensed to run this business. He didn’t recall any such paperwork or official documentation of his previous business ventures, but then again they apparently weren’t even real, according to his mother.

Patrick demurred, refusing to take ownership of the gesture he had made. “Actually, they, uh, they all come framed.” Sure they did.

“Okay, thank God,” David announced in relief, a breath escaping him. “Because I was just thinking that this frame is a little too corporate, um, for my brand,” he decided, gesturing to the silver frame in his hands.

Yep, Patrick should definitely have gone with the black frame instead. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. Not that he was planning to give David another gift, especially not another frame.

Alexis broke the tension as only she could. “David, I was just about to sample the unisex Mennonite cologne on Patrick.”

“Um, that’s not a sample,” David replied in exasperation. Really, if Alexis was just going to come in and open all of these products, she was more trouble than anything. For every jar or bottle she opened, that was one less that he could sell. “And you’ve sampled half the store at this point. So, we still need to sell all this stuff,” David reiterated, gesturing to the many products sitting on the tables.

Patrick was looking at a bottle of organic shampoo when Alexis admitted, “Okay, well I flattened out the lip balm, so no one’s gonna notice.” As though that made them sellable again. Yikes.

“There’s a lot of stuff in here, David,” Patrick cautioned him. “You don’t want to spend too much money up front.”

Alexis moved over to him and teamed up with Patrick against him, agreeing, “Yeah, that is _not good_ , David.”

“You have to be prepared to survive a full year without making any profit,” Patrick advised. The man knew business, and David clearly did not.

Alexis must have been actually taking her business class to heart, because she chimed in, “Actually, the textbooks now say eighteen months.”

Okay, this was unacceptable. Alexis had her grubby little paws, limp wrists and all, all over Patrick, and the two of them were ganging up on him. Defensive David came out in a flash.

“Okay, well what are the textbooks saying about curating a selection of products from local vendors and selling them on consignment in a one-stop-shop retail environment that benefits both the vendor and the customer?” David asked, seemingly knowing what he was talking about. He looked from Alexis to Patrick as he finished, knowing he was right. Patrick clearly hadn’t listened closely to all his voicemails, or he would know this. Maybe that was for the best.

Chastened, Patrick nodded in agreement. David did actually know a little more than he seemed about this whole thing.

Alexis clearly didn’t recognize the sarcasm in David’s voice or his rhetorical question, because she actually answered him. Or maybe she did recognize it. “Well, I don’t have my textbook on me.”

“I stand corrected,” Patrick said, as he put the shampoo bottle back on the table. David’s lips were pursed like he was incredibly annoyed, but when Patrick spoke, it turned into a closed-mouth grin.

“Listen, if you need help, I—I’m happy to help,” Patrick offered as David turned away. He really had to fix this. Not only had David just walked in on Alexis flirting with him, but she had stood with Patrick in what he had not meant to be ganging up on David but definitely turned out that way.

“Um, why? Alexis is here helping,” David retorted saltily.

“Well, no, if Patrick has offered to move all the boxes, then I think we should let him,” Alexis answered in that coy way that only she could.

Oh, God, what had Patrick just volunteered for? “Uh, is _that_ what I offered?” he asked.

Alexis was bouncing back and forth like it was her birthday and Patrick was a special present just for her.

“Okay, well, thank you, Patrick,” David agreed, unboxing some room sprays from the box he had brought from the back.

“You’re welcome,” Alexis answered, while Patrick shrugged his acknowledgement. God, Alexis was getting in the way of everything.

“Um, okay. So you can start by moving all those big things of hand cream,” she directed Patrick to the stock room. Apparently now he was taking very flirty orders from Alexis. This was not going at all the way he had hoped, or planned.

Patrick gave her a silent thumbs up, moving close behind David to follow Alexis’s directions.

“What?” David mouthed his sister as Patrick moved into the stock room.

She gave him the sign for “okay,” putting her thumb and pointer fingers together in front of her. Whether Alexis thought things were going well for her, or for David, was very unclear. David grimaced in response.

~

Alexis was trying (unsuccessfully) to convince him that she was deserving of free lip balms because of “sweat equity,” like she had actually sweat at all while “helping” earlier.

“Okay, well there are actually a few things around the store that I could use your help with. Just an FYI, Patrick won’t be there.” That he knew of. Patrick hadn’t exactly announced he would be dropping by with the business license, so he couldn’t be sure Patrick wouldn’t drop by unannounced again. “So there won’t be anybody for you to flirtatiously boss around.”

“Okay, I hate to break this to you David, but there will always be someone for me to flirtatiously boss around.” Alexis was very sure of herself. She was probably right.

“So what was going on there?” he asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. If Patrick was into Alexis, that would only mean that the universe continued to work in the way it always had, with her at its center and everything and everyone revolving around her.

Alexis sighed. “Oh, nothing. He hasn’t even asked for my phone number, which, in my experience, means he’s either newly married or he’s gay.”

David turned to look at Alexis, appreciating that she was more astute than maybe people – including sometimes him – gave her credit for.

“So like if you’re sensing a vibe or something, maybe that means that his eye is on somebody else.” She closed her eye in what was clearly supposed to be a wink.

David hated that hope rose up inside him like butterflies. Patrick didn’t have a wedding ring on. He also didn’t seem gay. Ugh. He hated that as progressive and open as he was about labels and people, his brain still went to stupid stereotypes. Just because Patrick didn’t have a rainbow on his shirt didn’t mean he was straight. Plenty of people thought David was gay, and wow were those people surprised to see him making out with women. So he supposed Patrick _could_ be into guys, but that didn’t mean he was into David. Not that that mattered, because David definitely wasn’t into him. The man wore trekking shoes to work, for God’s sake.

“He’s a business major who wears straight legged, mid-range denim. He’s not into me.” Saying it didn’t make it true, but it was easier for David to tell himself (and Alexis) that than to let himself hope Patrick _was_ into him. Which he wasn’t, and that was fine. Because David wasn’t into him either.

“Okay, well it’s either that or he’s really into the store, which no offense seems a lot less likely to me.” Alexis turned back to her book, every single line of which was highlighted bright pink.

David wasn’t sure if he should be offended on Rose Apothecary’s behalf, or thankful that Alexis found it more likely that someone would be interested in him than a potentially profitable business.

“Okay.” David said, refusing to let the implications of this conversation get to him. “I think you missed a spot that that page with the highlighter,” he indicated sarcastically as he opened the door to leave.

He didn’t let himself acknowledge that he hoped Patrick would stop by today when Alexis wasn’t there, so he could test Alexis’s theory.

~

David was fiddling with the cash register when the door opened. He really needed to lock it behind him if people were just going to walk in ignoring the many “Closed” signs peppering the doors and windows, and—oh, it was Patrick.

“Uh oh,” David said dramatically. “I take it you’re here to tell me my business license has been revoked,” he finished with a slight smile.

Patrick came to stand in front of him by the counter, laughing at the self-deprecating greeting. “No, no, you’re all good.”

“Okay, um,” David had too many things in his hands. This cash register was a nightmare to set up. Too many pieces, too many cords and screens, and parts that fit together. “My sister isn’t – isn’t here, so.” He sighed deeply.

Patrick said right out in response, “I’m not here for your sister.” And that was it. Whether he was here for the store or for… David… he wasn’t here for Alexis, and that was a shock in itself.

David’s face moved of its own volition, smile creeping up to his eyebrows. “Okay.”

They both sat with the silence for just a moment, before Patrick broke the tension. “You know, I’ve been thinking about all this, and uh, these products that Alexis was showing me yesterday were actually really impressive.” David’s eyes shot to Patrick’s face rather than trying to figure out the pin pad in his hands. “I mean the whole model is actually very sustainable.”

So, the store then. He was interested in the store.

“Thank you,” David agreed. He was actually quite proud of what he was doing, even if no one else recognized the genius of it.

“But, I think you’re going to need some more start-up money,” Patrick stated, his shoulders slightly hunched. He was wearing a light blue button down today, again with those top two buttons undone. He didn’t have an undershirt on beneath it as best David could tell. Those sleeves were rolled up almost to his elbows. If David didn’t know any better, he would think Patrick’s neck and what he could see of his chest were somewhat flushed.

“Oh, more start-up money,” David nodded, understanding that Patrick was all business. “Um, and where do you think I’ll get that money?”

Patrick looked smug, like he had a secret he was keeping.

“Well, when you’re supporting local businesses, there are grants that you can apply for,” Patrick explained, happy to demonstrate his knowledge on the subject. “And I would be happy to assist you with those applications.”

David looked up from the equipment in his hands once again. “Well, that is very, um, very generous.”

“Well,” Patrick responded, crossing his arms, “I wouldn’t be doing it for free.”

David’s eyes widened in shock. Now Patrick wanted to be paid?

“See, if the grants came through, you’d have the money to start paying me,” Patrick explained.

Paying him? As in, continually paying him. Not just paying him for a one-off business consultation or something? Was Patrick asking to work for him? Or _with_ him?

Shaking his head, David tried to wrap his mind around what was happening. This is not how he expected the day to go. When Alexis suggested Patrick might be interested in _the store_ , he didn’t expect that meant Patrick wanted to be _part of it_. More like a fun business project to help out with. “Um…” David started to speak, but Patrick cut him off.

“I really think you have something here, David,” he offered. “You just, you need some help. You need _a lot_ of help—” Patrick continued.

“Okay! Um,” David couldn’t help but feel insulted. After all, Patrick was telling him he couldn’t do this alone. And maybe he couldn’t. But at least if he did it alone, then he was only responsible for his own failures. “Uh, well, then, yes.” David closed his eyes, thinking hard. “I am open to entertaining your _investment offer_.” Investment offer certainly sounded better than “help” did.

“Great,” Patrick agreed, smiling. “And in the interest of us potentially working together, I did want to, uh, come clean about something,” he said, looking down.

Oh my God. Was Patrick about to come out to him? He looked serious.

“Okay,” David answered, his brow furrowed.

The tension continued, Patrick looking more uncertain of himself than David thought possible, given his previous consistent self-assuredness.

“I, um. I actually picked out that frame,” he admitted, looking to the wall behind the counter where David had hung the business license, off-brand silver frame and all.

“Uh, I see,” David replied, smiling. “So, thank you for making very clear that I will be making the creative decisions for the store. Um, and I guess you can handle all the business stuff.” The tone shifted, lightening. It had really seemed that Patrick was about to say something very different than what had actually come out of his mouth. Then again, David didn’t know Patrick that well.

“I’m very comfortable with that,” Patrick agreed, a smirk playing on his face as his ears reddened slightly.

“Okay,” David said, smiling as well. Was this flirting? Were they flirting right now? Without Alexis here, David thought it would be easier to tell, but now he wasn’t so sure. “Um, and you do know that if the grant money doesn’t come through, then I wont—”

“Ooooh, I’m gonna get the money,” Patrick assured him, a pregnant pause holding all the tension of the moment.

David looked at him, agape. Patrick spoke as if there was no other option than him succeeding. He was going to _make_ this happen. For them.

“Okay,” David agreed, quietly. He couldn’t say he was disappointed to have a business partner like Patrick, even if the man didn’t turn out to be attracted to him.

~

**Patrick Brewer**

I just wanted to let you know I submitted

those grant applications this afternoon.

Should hear back soon.

**David Rose**

You seemed very confident that

we’d be awarded one of them.

**Patrick Brewer**

I know what I’m doing, and Rose Apothecary

is very deserving of the funds.

**David Rose**

Do you always get so invested in businesses

you file incorporation paperwork for?

**Patrick Brewer**

Nope.

**David Rose**

Well, I guess I’m not surprised that my

genius idea is the one that drew you in.

**Patrick Brewer**

Who said genius?

I said it supported local businesses.

**David Rose**

We really need to work on how you give

affirmations and positive reinforcement

to your business associates.

**Patrick Brewer**

Oh, so we’re business associates now?

And here I thought it all hinged on the money,

which hasn’t come through yet.

**David Rose**

Your confidence is infectious.

**Patrick Brewer**

Thank you?

**David Rose**

Yes, that was intended to be a compliment.

You said you’ll get the money.

I wouldn’t bet against you.

**Patrick Brewer**

Well, I will. But I’m happy to continue

helping out even before that.

**David Rose**

I can’t pay you yet, though.

Like you said, we may not even

turn a profit for a while.

**Patrick Brewer**

Well all the more reason for me

to help out now, then. I can make sure

you aren’t making any horrible business

decisions that would bankrupt

you in your first year.

**David Rose**

I’ll have you know I make all my bad

decisions personally, not professionally.

**Patrick Brewer**

I’d prefer you to not make bad decisions

either way.

**David Rose**

Well then you’ll just have to keep

looking out for me, I suppose.

**Patrick Brewer**

Happy to help. It’s okay that I texted?

**David Rose**

Clearly.

**Patrick Brewer**

If you’d prefer to communicate solely

through stoned nonsensical voicemails,

though…

**David Rose**

Fuck off.

**Patrick Brewer**

Okay, then. Texting it is.

**David Rose**

I’m heading in at 10 tomorrow if you

want to stop by and help.

Should be there until 4 or so.

**Patrick Brewer**

I have some things to do for Ray

in the morning, but maybe I could stop

by around lunch?

I can pick you something up from the Café,

if you want.

**David Rose**

YES! I will take a roast beef sandwich,

side of fries, and if they have any scones left,

one of those too.

Also a caramel macchiato.

**Patrick Brewer**

Oh, is that all?

**David Rose**

Right, the caramel macchiato

should be nonfat with two stevia.

And cocoa powder on top.

**Patrick Brewer**

Does the café even have an espresso machine?

**David Rose**

They do. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one

making use of it. But Twyla does not understand

how to get a proper grind, so the espresso

is never quite right. That’s why the two stevia.

**Patrick Brewer**

It’s all starting to make sense.

**David Rose**

What? WHAT IS?

**Patrick Brewer**

Just you. You’re not quite like anyone I’ve ever met.

**David Rose**

I can’t tell if you’re complimenting

me or insulting me.

**Patrick Brewer**

See you tomorrow, David.

I’ll try not to throw you anymore curveballs.

**David Rose**

I don’t know what that means.

Good night.


End file.
